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Seniors get socialism, young Americans get debt

Socialism for the old, raw capitalism for the young – that seems to be the new American Way.

There are quite a few folks in their 60s, 70s and 80s freaked out by the phantom specter of creeping, European-style socialism who, at the same time, are oblivious to the reality that they already live in a socialist paradise. Americans over the age of 65 have free medical care and a steady income to the day they die provided by the federal government.

Meanwhile, many young people in this country cannot find jobs, cannot afford homes and are weighed down by student loan debts. For the first time, a new generation of Americans appears destined to be poorer than their parents.

Census data released this week indicates that the over-65 cohort boasts a net worth that is 47 times greater than the net worth of citizens under age 35. This is the biggest disparity on record; twice what it was in 2005 and five times the difference just 25 years ago.

While politicians have dutifully maintained the social safety net for seniors, they have hacked away at programs that benefit young people, particularly support for public schools and colleges. Back when I was a Baby Boomer lad, the public schools I attended were well funded and rich with an array of course offerings. Now, too many public schools are starved for funding, arts and humanities courses are being cut and extracurricular activities are endangered. When I went to college, tuition was a few hundred dollars a year. If you were lucky enough to live in California, tuition was free and the universities were among the best in the world. Now, tuitions have skyrocketed, state funding has been slashed and access to higher education is restricted.

Coming out of college, I never worried about finding a job – everyone found a job. The internships I had paid pretty well. My first job paid even better and it did not take me long to save enough money to buy a house.

Today, unpaid internships are the rule. Even with a college degree, young people find starting positions at many companies are lowly training gigs with no pay. When paid employment is finally obtained, there are student loans to be paid off before a young person can begin to think about buying property. Those who have managed to buy houses have seen the value of those homes drop. Many have lost houses to foreclosure.

Meanwhile, older Americans who bought into the housing market when home values were soaring are sitting pretty.

These days, when we think about who the seniors are, we should no longer envision the people who grew up during the Great Depression and fought World War II. Those folks are leaving us rapidly. Now, the 66-to-83-year-olds are the Silent Generation who came of age in the 1950s and early ‘60s. As a group, they are less liberal than the World World II crowd. According to a study highlighted in TIME magazine, big majorities of Silent Generation members disapprove, not only of gay marriage, but also interracial marriage. By two-to-one, they think the United States is the greatest country in the world but are not impressed with Barack Obama or the Internet

By contrast, Millennials – Americans born since 1980 – largely approve of marriage for both gay and interracial couples. They love the Internet and Obama, but only a third of them say the USA is number one.

That last opinion is no surprise since so many of them see the American Dream eluding them. Unlike their grandparents, they have no safety net. They are looking ahead to a future of debt and economic uncertainty, both for themselves and for their country.

The Millennials are as worthy a generation as any America has produced. The young men and women who have fought our wars for the last decade have sacrificed heroically and performed with excellence. Beyond the military, many of the graduates coming out of our universities are already engaged in lives of creative community service. Judging from the Millennials I have come to know through work and through my own children, they are smart and open-minded, talented and tolerant.

As a society, we have done well by our older citizens. Now, it’s time we find a way to give a boost to the young people. They are, after all, the ones who will determine if our nation rises or declines.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.